A Massachusetts district has joined the growing number of schools opting to install vape detectors into bathrooms.
“With vaporizer use becoming more widespread, kids have stopped fiddling with lighters and have taken to carrying vapes — the new-age e-cig — containing nicotine or marijuana,” writes The Herald News, a Gannett newspaper. “Minus the soot, embers or smell of cigarettes, vapes are easily stored in pockets or book bags. And they don’t set off traditional smoke alarms.”
As a result, the Fall River Public Schools approved a contract June 9 to start installing 60 detectors in middle school buildings, with plans to introduce more at a high-school level.
“It’s not just about putting vape sensors in our schools,” said Aimee Bronhard, the district’s assistant superintendent, during the June 9 committee meeting. “But once we find and identify problems, we also have to be prepared to meet our students where they’re at, and to provide a service, and a response, to that situation.”
‘Real-time text information’
The district, which served 11,000 students in the 2024-25 school year, is using $59,260 in Title 1 grant funding to help finance the first batch of detectors.
Sensor hardware on the ceiling connects to the school’s network, sending “real-time text information” to officials whenever air quality diminishes “very quickly, in a small space,” explained Chief Information Officer Scott Cabral.
“Most of the time, the staff get there while the kids are still in the bathroom,” he said. “And for that one-off occasion where they don’t [see] the text and they’re [out] of the bathroom already, what you do, is you do some old-fashioned police work. Our cameras are pointed right at the direction of the entrances of the bathroom.”
The district’s current disciplinary policies regarding drug use will remain in place, Bronhard noted, though she emphasized a need for “actionable resources” and “interventions” in addition to suspensions involving nicotine or marijuana.
‘A healthier future for our children’
Other states have struggled with student vaping, including Colorado’s recent multimillion-dollar settlement with Juul Labs, an e-cigarette manufacturer.
Twelve nonprofits received funds from the settlement to help in vaping prevention, treatment and education programs statewide.
“By investing in these organizations, we are taking a critical step toward protecting our youth from the dangers of vaping,” said Colorado’s Attorney General Phil Weiser in a 2024 statement. “This funding will empower communities to educate our young people about the risks, implement preventive measures, and provide essential treatment for those affected. Together, we can create a healthier future for our children and help them not turn to vaping in the first place.”
The Peoria Unified School District in Arizona even pondered the idea of an open concept bathroom to increase accessibility and monitoring by staffers, including vape monitors in each stall.
“The restrooms are a big source of behavior issues because our kids are congregating in there and right now if we know there’s a big group of kids in there, we have to literally stand outside and yell ‘Hey, get out of the bathroom,’ or we have to walk in there,” said Trina Berg, president of the Peoria Education Association.
However, some parents and students criticized the plan because of privacy concerns.
“They felt very vulnerable,” said parent Jeff Toby about showing the design plans to his three daughters. “And what kind of place do we want to foster if we are going to make a plan where our daughters feel vulnerable going to the bathroom because it’s wide open to the main hallway?”
